The adventures (and little style secrets) of Marty McFly – Reel

(Cover photo credit: Michael J. Fox in “Back to the Future,” 1985 - Photo Universal/Getty Images / Article updated 05/20/22)

Who has never dreamed of traveling through time? Originally, nothing predisposed young Marty McFly to the extraordinary adventures of “Back to the Future”. He's just another teenager, with the passions of his age (video games, skateboarding, electric guitar) and a rather banal high school daily life.

At 17, he lives with his family in a quiet subdivision in the small fictional town of Hill Valley, California. There is no indication that he discovered the secrets of time by reading Marcel Proust's Recherche. However, he would become the most popular master of clocks of his time and even a topic of ongoing discussion for the fashion press.

Our first meeting with the character played by Michael J. Fox takes place from the first minutes, through an anthology sequence which touches on the entire history of the saga, with the quiet force of the gaze. What we first discover about Marty McFly are his shoes and that's good because he really loves them above all else: they're a pair of white Nike Bruins with the red swoosh and they are so cool that we would be ready to forget all our good resolutions about fashion and its ethics.

If you only see these sneakers in Robert Zemeckis' trilogy, I reassure you: you are not dreaming, it's almost normal because Marty McFly is another style fetishist. We will see that he finds it very difficult to part with it, whatever the times he faces. What we also learn during this fantastic introductory sequence is that Marty has a friend focused on science and inventions of all kinds.

This is where science fiction comes into play. In its wake, a new journey through fashion, cinema and this new series of three films which can be seen as a single work of almost six hours.

1. 1985, THE POWER OF LOVE AND LAYERING

In the year 1985, youth and adventure were popular in American cinema, from Richard Donner's "Goonies" to Joe Dante's "Explorers". However, nothing suggests the success and never-failing aura of the “Back to the Future” franchise. This is a project that has been lying around for almost five years.

In the year 1985, youth and adventure were popular in American cinema, from Richard Donner's "Goonies" to Joe Dante's "Explorers". However, nothing suggests the success and never-failing aura of the “Back to the Future” franchise. This is a project that has been lying around for almost five years.

Produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Robert Zemeckis who has just won his first big success , “Back to the Future” is more than ever among the most emblematic films of the 80s.

“If you're going to build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? »

says Doc Emmett Brown to his young friend Marty McFly. The car in question is a customized DeLorean DMC-12 and it is almost as cult as the saga itself.

As for style, “Back to the Future” fortunately does not stop at the choice of automobile. It is a portrait of the Reaganite America of the time: economic liberalism, patriotism and conservative morality, omnipresence of pop culture, trends towards flashy colors and aerobics, breakthrough technology japanese at home , without forgetting the almost carefree music and fashion of those years.

Take for example our hero's daily outfit. We already know that he almost never takes off his pair of Nikes . For the rest: gray socks, light blue jeans and two-tone denim jacket Guess brand, gray and white checkered shirt, suspenders, burgundy t-shirt and watch with Casio digital display. To this succession of layers is finally added a sleeveless down jacket halfway between red and orange, which in 1955 some would describe as a life jacket.

Cheap, did you say cheap? Obviously, for the style adventurers who read us regularly, this outfit can easily be revisited with more character and more beautiful materials. For example BonneGueule, Rocky Mountain for the down jacket. But the main thing here is in the construction: it is a perfect example of layering.

35 years later, admit that you sometimes find the spirit of all this very cool and at the same time have a little pinch in your heart when listening to the song from the film, “ The Power of Love” .

For other tracks, without sleeves:

2. 1955, THE BALLAD OF JIM, PIERRE AND CALVIN

Among Marty McFly's different trips back and forth in time, there is a regular one which testifies to what America adores above all its own legend: 1955. It is precisely the year of release of "The Fury of Living” by Nicholas Ray and Chuck Berry’s first steps in the Chess Records studios.

It's no surprise that in the first two parts of the trilogy you come across the ghosts of James Dean and Natalie Wood, the Ivy League and rockabilly: from "American Graffiti" to "Outsiders", from "Happy Days » to “Heathers”, these are references that regularly haunt American screens. It's also an opportunity for our young McFly to try out another style of clothing.

“Get yourself some 50's clothes... something inconspicuous! » . For example, it will be a black felt hat, a perfecto and black glasses combined with his sneakers, his jeans and his burgundy t-shirt from 1985 . You will have understood: Marty McFly is not an expert in disguise. If he struggles to fully adopt the style of another era than his own, let's admit that his way of combining styles in his outfits is sometimes well seen.

More classic: a woolen plaid suit, a white shirt and a thin red tie to go to the high school dance. Even more surprising: the Marty McFly of the 50s leaves his sneakers on a few occasions. So you will briefly see him wearing brown moccasins, with beige pleated chinos, a white camp collar shirt with blue patterns and a beige and red Harrington type jacket.

Or even blue Converse , with blue jeans, a white t-shirt and another camp collar shirt with psychedelic patterns. It's amusing to see how much the style of US cinema of the 1950s has nourished and transcended the eras. Look for example at the cuffs of jeans, the volume and pleats of pants, etc.

However, the same will not be said of the eighties briefs and purple Calvin Klein of our hero. Ultimate proof of how embarrassing underwear with a visible logo or brand name can be?

To go back to the 50s:

3. 1885, CLINT'S PONCHO AND OTHER LEGENDS OF THE WEST

Let's recap. Throughout the saga, Marty McFly visits several eras. 1985 is the scene of his present life. 1955 the origin of his world and the meeting of his parents, 2015 his nightmarish future. Let's also add some alternative realities that we discover in the second part of the trilogy. You will then have an idea of ​​how convoluted a story with many dots to connect can sometimes be.

Let's move on to fantasy futuristic of 2015 to focus on Marty McFly's latest adventure to date. It takes place in 1885, as if “Back to the Future” sought to go back in time to the birth of a nation and thus return to the sources of American cinema: the western, cowboys and Indians, the great outdoors and the biggest ambassadors of the genre .

Strangely, however, it is through another door that Robert Zemeckis brings his character into the Wild West. After a difficult start , Marty quickly takes the name Clint Eastwood and tries his hand at the spaghetti style of “A Fistful of Dollars.”

For him, it will therefore be a horse. But also beige boots, brown pants, a gray striped work shirt, a blue-gray bandana, a beautiful hat and above all a poncho almost identical to the one that worked wonders on Sergio Leone's dark Clint Eastwood.

Have you ever wanted to have the same one? It's a style. To be reserved for the house, the countryside or the great outdoors. In the world of pioneers in any case, there was only one watchword: “some respectable clothes and a fine hat”. As if to remind you that clothing is important. The hat was for a long time the prerogative of gentlemen before falling into disuse in the 1970s.

After such adventures, Marty McFly's return to his time, however, makes him forget the essential: where the hell have the Nike Bruins gone? Even today, the question remains unanswered.

Until then, to try your hand at the western: